. >> the obama campaign fired back calling his comments. politics. the gop nominee will spend the rest of the weekend in the boston area preparing for the town hall. he has been sparring with ohio senator robb portman who predicted their work will pay off. >> i was proud of paul ryan. i was proud of mitt romney last week. we will have another great debate next week. >> aides say mr. romney has already conducted practice town halls with swing state voters. >> our commitment 2012 coverage continues online. keep track of the candidates and who is leading the polls. you will find all of the details on the politics page. the longtime gop senator turned democrat died this weekend at his home in philadelphia from complications of non hodgkin's lymphoma. he was the chairman of the senate judiciary committee and played a key role in the confirmation hearings of bork and thomas. in april of 2009, he startled senators when he announced he was switching to the democratic party. the next year, he lost the democratic primary. ed rendell said he did more for the pe